TGI welcomes inaugural innovation & management master’s students

Tufts Gordon Institute welcomed its inaugural class of master’s students in the new innovation and management program. The 14 M.S. in Innovation and Management (MSIM) students were selected for their strong academic background and more importantly for their curiosity and passion for science, math, technology, and making an impact in the world.

“All of our incoming students want to learn how to lead the creation of innovative, new products/services that leverage technology. While they come from diverse undergraduate backgrounds — biomedical, electrical, and mechanical engineering to neuroscience, architecture, psychology, and even art history — they all have discovered through early work experiences that they want to be leaders of innovation, whether it’s in a greenfield start up or an existing enterprise,” said MSIM Program Director & Professor of the Practice Kevin Oye.

What really interests me is the relation between technology and society and I hope to be working in that area. Whether that will be more towards the policy side, as a consultant or within a product development team I don’t know yet, but I have time to figure that out and this year will bring me a step closer. – Maren Brenninkmeijer, MSIM ’17

The program attracted a global class – with the class evenly split between students from the United States and from abroad. International students are from Canada, China, India, Japan, Netherlands and Turkey. The class, academically accomplished, includes students from top universities and schools including: McGill University, Delft University of Technology, Rutgers University, Wuhan University, B.M.S. College of Engineering, East China Normal University, Tufts University, Stevens Institute of Technology, and Koc University.

Ashwini Chidirala who earned her B.S. in Biomedical Engineering from Rutgers University believes the program will help her achieve her ultimate goal of becoming a surgeon and developing surgical tools that better meet surgeon needs. Maren Brenninkmeijer from the Netherlands earned her degree in Architecture from Delft University of Technology. “What really interests me is the relation between technology and society and I hope to be working in that area. Whether that will be more towards the policy side, as a consultant or within a product development team I don’t know yet, but I have time to figure that out and this year will bring me a step closer,” said Brenninkmeijer.

Benny Kim, who graduated with a degree in Electrical Engineering this year from Tufts University, wants to work in product development in the renewable energies industry. “To really make an impact, you have to be able to work with people, not just technology,” he said. “That’s why I chose the Tufts MSIM program – it includes a leadership component.”

Oye explains the inspiration for the program mission: “During my 30+ careers in industry, I’ve been fortunate to work with some of the best people and I learned early on the value of diverse teams, deep customer insights, and innovative technologies to achieve business results. It’s these experiences that convinced me that if we can help people learn all the skills they need – creative thinking, financial planning, communication, and leadership – to lead innovative solutions early in their careers, they can go on to have greater impact.”